TOY WARS: Walmart and Target are duking it out to take Toys R Us' place as the holiday-shopping season looms

Getty/Joe Raedle

Target customers will have more space to shop for toys in many of the chain's stores.

• Target announced on Tuesday a new initiative to expand both its assortment of toys and the space it uses to sell toys in stores ahead of the holiday shopping season.
• It follows Walmart's announcement in August that it would also be expanding assortment and adding the number of shelves allotted for toys in some stores.
• In both cases, the changes are permanent.
• The stores are gearing up for a war over Toys R Us' former shoppers in the wake of the toy store chain's bankruptcy and subsequent liquidation.
• They'll have to fend off Amazon as well.

Target is jumping into the fray and joining a group of retailers making a play for toy shoppers this holiday season.

The big-box store announced on Tuesday a new initiative to increase both the space it allots to selling toys in stores and the assortment of toys it carries.

In a press release, it touts that it will have "2,500 new and exclusive toys" with 250,000 additional square feet of floor space spread throughout 500 stores. These stores will also be getting a remodel with more space for items like outdoor play sets and ride-on toys. About 100 of those stores will have a new layout for the toy section with larger displays. These changes will be permanent and last after the holidays.

New events will also be held at stores throughout the season, and an expanded toy catalogue will be mailed out soon.

Online, a new "Toy Hub" will help shoppers explore the expanded selection.

This follows a similar announcement from Walmart in late August. Walmart is expanding its toy selection by 40% online, while 30% of the toys it's stocking in stores will be brand-new. Walmart will also similarly make room for more toys in stores, and in some locations, it will even be adding more aisles to stock them.

Walmart is tripling the number of in-store events it is planning, including toy demonstrations and other events.

Layaway started on August 31, earlier than in years past. Walmart changed how the program works to ensure that if the price of the toy drops before it is picked up, the customer gets the cheapest price automatically.

Toys are an especially competitive category this year as retailers fight for a piece of the billions of dollars Toys R Us did in sales in 2017. But, they'll have to fend off Amazon first.

Analysts are already forecasting a strong holiday season for retailers, with most overall sales growth estimates in the high single or low double digits. But it's even better news for e-commerce players like Amazon.

Most of this year's growth will likely come from online sales, as Forrester Research is predicting 14% sales growth online but only 1.7% growth in stores. Analysts estimated that Amazon took nearly half of all online retail sales in 2017 and that it will take even more this year.

Forrester estimates that online holiday sales will account for more than 32% all online sales for the entire year.